UN mission leaves Kassala, withdrawal of forces

The United Nations Mission in
Sudan (UNMIS) today held a “farewell ceremony” in the
State of Kassala, in the eastern part of the country, where
the operation finished overseeing the withdrawal of forces
under a peace agreement that marked the end of a 21-year
conflict separate from the one that more recently engulfed
the vast Darfur region.

UNMIS said Kassala is the first
sector where the mission has successfully completed its
mandated tasks with the withdrawal of all SPLA forces –
around 5,600 troops – from Eastern Sudan to the South, as
called for in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed
in 2005 by the Government and the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement/Army. The phase-out of UNMIS troops is expected to
be completed over a two-month period.

Speaking to
participants at the farewell ceremony, Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's Special Representative, Jan Pronk, voiced
satisfaction that UNMIS personnel deployed in the State has
been viewed by the local communities as exemplary guests who
showed utmost respect for the culture of the society they
were there to serve.

The envoy also indicated that the
although UNMIS will be pulling out of the area, United
Nations agencies will continue to carry out their
humanitarian and development programmes there.

In a press
release on the event, UNMIS said the withdrawal of all SPLA
forces from Eastern Sudan to the South “represents a
significant step” in the peace process.

“The success
of UNMIS monitoring and verification operation in Eastern
Sudan lies in the fact that this redeployment that involved
large bodies of troops and non-combatants was carried out
peacefully without any incidents,” the mission said.

But
while welcoming recent security developments, UNMIS said the
UN “remains concerned that nutritional and mortality
levels could easily worsen if there is not enough assistance
and/or adequate access granted for the humanitarian agencies
to the people in need throughout the region.”

It
stressed that all UN humanitarian partners have expressed
their willingness to continue their activities and to work
closely with the authorities as well as with the civil
society in order to effectively address the needs of the
region's people.

Besides carrying out its verification and
monitoring tasks, UNMIS engaged in a wide range of
activities aimed at helping local people while supporting
the wider objective of achieving sustainable peace in the
region. In October, 2005, the Nepalese contingent launched
an anti-malaria drive in Kassala, and later embarked on
another campaign to increase awareness of hygiene and
sanitation among the township's
population.

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